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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Unless you are
Woody Allen, it’s hard to make a funny movie that is based soley on sex. An
image of 1988’s Casual Sex featuring
Lea Thompson, Victoria Jackson and glowing condoms comes to mind, as do
countless movies that show up on late night TV.

Social media,
modern anxieties, “the cloud” and current Internet culture have opened the way
to make a movie that turns our 2014 behaviors into the surprise comedy of the
year. And loveable Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz seem like just the two people
who could do that.

But
they didn’t. The
stars should be more embarrassed about this film than their characters were
about their sex tape. Rob Lowe, the original sex tape victim and a supporting
actor in this flick, will surely be more embarrassed about everyone’s
performance in this movie.

Simply put:This movie
is not funny. And it’s not sexy. The only one getting f’d is the ticket-goer.

Monday, July 14, 2014

In this second
chapter of this series, a team of humans set to the jungle and find themselves
in a hairy situation when they run into a pack of apes.

But James Franco is
not with them. His character in Rise of
The Planet of the Apes was not one of the survivors of a virus that wiped
out most of the humans. So you’d think this superstar-less sequel would be a
cheaper film, right?

Unlike many sequels,
the studio invested more money into
this film than its predessesor. I suspect that the number crunchers realized
they had everything: a though-provoking story that contained action and
potential for a long-term franchise.

Simply
put: This is the series’ Terminator 2, not Matrix 2.

Award
potential: Noms for Best Effects,
Makeup, Sound and Sound Mixing seem very likely at this point in the year.
Expect conversation, but not nominations, around Original Screenplay and Supporting
Actor Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the
Rings), who does the motion-capture prometheus ape.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The story of The Four
Seasons is a stellar one, which is one of the reasons why the Tony
award-winning musical Jersey Boys was
such a pleasant surprise and why the film version is ultimately engaging,
despite its frighteningly lackluster production.

The other reason is,
of course, the music. In both cases, Frankie Valli is played by talented
sound-alike John Lloyd Young. And he’s great.

When director Clint
Eastwood just lets the music play, it works. But the full film looks dark, is filled
with stereotypes and at times, very flat. Why make a movie version when the
sets look like a stage and the characters talk to camera?

Simply
put: I can fully
recommend the play, but I can only give this a mild recommendation.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

This
summer’s feel-good film, (Chef/Begin
Again) from indie film favorite director John (Favreau/ Carney) is hardly
an indie; the cast includes Hollywood A-listers (John Leguizamo, Sofia
Vergara/Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley), and the storyline is implausibly
perfect.

I
enjoyed this film but couldn’t help escape the feeling that the team was trying
to recapture the spirit of their great (1990s/2000s) low budget gem (Swingers/Once). The tone just feels odd
for 2014. And it doesn’t help that they chose the tired (food/music) genre.

Although
the movie seems to be about (food/music), it’s really a casual film about
estranged relationships and nothing deeper than that. Casting probably kept
this film from going there. While I enjoyed every scene with (Vergara,
Knightley), she was just too Hollywood-famous and gorgeous for the grit we
needed. For a story that preached about authenticity, this film is ironically
too slick to go there.

(Chef’s/Begin Again’s) soundtrack is the
redeeming grace. You’ll smile a lot in the theater as the story plays out and
the music plays on. It’s a fun (1 hour 40 minutes/1 hour 55 minutes). I just
don’t think they’ll make this one again in (ten/twenty) years.

Simply put: (Movie
comfort food/A pop hit) that the whole family will enjoy.

Award potential: It’s a stellar cast with everyone
performing just right for a light film, but nothing more.